Secretary-General Zhang Ming of Chinese Follow-Up Committee of FOCAC Receives Interview with Business Daily

Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the Chinese Follow-Up Committee of FOCAC and director-general of the Department of African Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received an exclusive interview today with Dominique Patton, resident journalist of the Business Daily of Kenya, answering questions on the 4th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, the impact of the financial crisis on China-Africa cooperation, and China's attitude towards the cooperation between international financial institutions with Africa.

On the 4th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, Zhang said that since the Beijing Summit of FOCAC was held in 2006, with the joint efforts of China and Africa, the consensus reached at the Summit are being actively implemented, yielding fruitful results in China-Africa substantive cooperation. At present, the achievements of the Beijing Summit have been basically implemented. The 4th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC will be held in Sharm el Sheikh of Egypt in the first half of November, when China and African countries will give a comprehensive assessment on the implementation of the achievements of the Beijing Summit, and work out the blueprint for China-Africa cooperation in various fields for the coming three years. China will, as always, provide assistance to African countries to the best of its capability, and help African countries to achieve economic and social development. To this end, China is having close consultation with Africa and making joint preparation for the conference.

Talking about China-Africa cooperation against the backdrop of the financial crisis, Zhang said that African countries have nothing to be blamed in terms of the origin of the financial crisis, but are forced to bear the consequences of the crisis with it moving deeply. Therefore, the Chinese leaders have, on many international occasions, called upon the international community to increase its assistance to Africa to help it cope with the crisis. Although China is also faced with the difficulty brought about by the crisis, it will continue its help to African countries to jointly tide over the difficulty. China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is indeed affected by the crisis, but generally speaking, the fundamentals are still sound, and the momentum for sound development remains unchanged.

When asked about the impact the financial crisis has on China-Africa relations, Zhang said that the meaning of the Chinese word "Weiji" (crisis) is two-folded, including both danger and opportunity. China is of the view that the more difficult the situation is, the more the cooperation can do to promote the development of bilateral relations. China and Africa will continue to adopt an optimistic attitude, act in a scientific way through cooperation, seize favorable opportunities, and join hands to promote their cooperation in various fields. I am sure that after going through the test of the crisis, China-Africa substantive cooperation will be brought to a higher level, he said.

When asked about his view on the cooperation conditions demanded by international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank on some African countries and whether it will damage the existing cooperation between China and these countries, Zhang said that China-Africa cooperation falls to the scope of South-South cooperation, which is mutually-beneficial, equally-footed, open, and not exclusive. When African countries are confronted with difficulties, the international community should give them help rather than impose pressure. China-Africa relations are not based on "money". China respects African countries' cooperation with the IMF and hopes to see more assistance of international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank to African countries so as to help them tackle the difficulties caused by the financial crisis.